ATO Whistleblower Richard Boyle worked for the ATO in Adelaide. He spoke up about the appalling and inappropriate behaviour at the ATO, now he’s facing prison.
Mr Boyle became an ATO Whistleblower exposing the corruption within the ATO and landed himself with 161 criminal charges, being prosecuted by the ATO and Commonwealth Director Public Prosecutions (CDPP).
In 2017, Mr Boyle made a public interest disclosure about the misconduct and maladministration at the debt collection centre of the ATO in Adelaide. Richard was concerned about the excessive use of garnishee notices – legal documents by which the tax office can demand a financial institution to hand over a taxpayer’s funds to pay an outstanding debt.
The ATO can demand the bank or institution transfer any amount or make ongoing payments, including future deposits as requested by the ATO. The ATO can do this without notifying the taxpayer about their financial capacity.
Towards the end of the 2017 financial year, an acting team leader emailed ATO staff in Mr Boyle’s work group with the memo: “the last hour of power is upon us. That means you still have time to issue five garnishees… right?”
Mr Boyle says he spoke out about what he saw as maladministration because of, “the serious and detrimental implications it had for taxpayers”.
“I was disgusted at this callous lack of concern for taxpayers’ welfare,” Mr Boyle says in a 50-page affidavit, submitted to the District Court of South Australia.
He recalls a supervisor saying: “for f***’s sake, I am sick of taxpayers threatening suicide”.
In 2020 the Senate Economics Legislation Committee noted problems with how the ATO investigates whistleblower complaints, saying it was “concerned that the standard of the ATO’s investigation could appear to the public to be superficial in addressing the concerns raised by ATO whistleblowers”.
The year before, an Inspector-General of Taxation’s report found that while allegations considered as an “ATO direction for a cash grab on small business” were not sustained, ATO staff had not always exercised their powers “proportionately and appropriately”.
An Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman review in 2019 found the ATO’s use of garnishee notices was “excessive”.
Lawyer Kieran Pender from Human Rights Law Centre described the personal and financial cost of the ongoing litigation as “horrendous”.
“It’s a prosecution that is dragging out and taking a significant emotional, financial and psychological toll on someone who just tried to do the right thing,” he said.
Mr Boyle later made a series of disclosures about the ATO’s aggressive pursuit of debts using garnishee notices – a practice he says devastated lives and businesses. He spoke out internally, then went to the Inspector General of Taxation, before speaking to the ABC and Fairfax for a joint investigation published in early 2018.
Mr Boyle now faces 24 charges, including the alleged disclosure of protected information and unlawful use of listening devices to record conversations with other ATO employees. The ATO had Mr Boyle’s house raided by the AFP and criminally prosecuted by the CDPP. He could face a lengthy term of imprisonment if convicted.
Whistleblower Richard Boyle has alleged the Australian Taxation Office took a “callous” approach to taxpayers who expressed suicidal thoughts while being chased for debts.
Mr Boyle has also alleged he was blocked from helping one individual who said they were “losing the will to live”, and in another instance was told by a senior employee they were “sick of taxpayers threatening suicide”.
In documents filed to support his landmark whistleblower protection case, Mr Boyle said he began to observe serious flaws in the culture of the ATO in the lead-up to his decision to speak out about the harm caused by the ATO aggressively pursuing debts from individuals and small businesses.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (PID) is supposed to protect Commonwealth employees who speak up on wrongdoing such as corruption, maladministration and abuse of public trust. The Act also protects whistleblowers who go to the media after making an internal disclosure, if they believe the investigation was inadequate.
You can read more about the joint Four Corners and Fairfax investigation Mongrel Bunch of Bastards by clicking here…
We are standing with you Richard.